About this episode

Nick Jeffery and John Granger discuss various Hogwarts Professor posts related to the concept of Squibs and other thematic elements in storytelling.

Nick Jeffery and John Granger sat down to discuss four Hogwarts Professor posts. Here are links to those posts with an excerpt from each and the most relevant urls embedded in them. Enjoy! What is a Squib, Really? And Where Would Rowling Have Met the Word? (John Granger, 27 April 2026) I confess that I assumed the word for barely magical witches and wizards born into magical families in J. K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, the folk she calls ‘Squibs,’ were given that name because of its onomatopoeic source in fireworks; per the Harry Potter Lexicon invaluable online resource , a squib is English idiom for “a dud firework that will not ignite properly.” It sounds like its meaning (as does “dud”) and a reader can feel in it the disappointment of magical parents when their child turns out not to have the gift that will make them full members of their community. I learned this morning, however, that a squib is not a dud firework, or wasn’t originally though it may have that meaning today, and that it is mentioned more than once in one of Rowling’s known literary influences. * ‘Squibbing’ at the Bridgewater Carnival Fireworks Festival ( YouTube video ) * Toyohashi Tengu: Japanese…

People in this episode

Host: John Granger

Guest: Nick Jeffery

Topics covered

• Squibs
• Islamic Cub Names
• Seven Strike Series Structure
• Story Reading
• Hogwarts Professor Posts

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Harry Potter Lexicon, A Kind of Elvish Craft, The Fireworks of Gandalf

Places: Bridgewater Carnival Fireworks Festival, Toyohashi, Japan

More episodes of Rowling Studies The Hogwarts Professor Podcast

• The First Seven Strike Novels Paralleled Their Seven Harry Potter Equivalents; What Rowling Work Did The Hallmarked Man Parallel? · June 5, 2026 · 1h 21m
• The Hidden Narratives and Interpretive Ciphers Beneath the Surface Story of Hallmarked Man · May 22, 2026 · 54 min
• A Conversation about Cormoran Strike, Literary Alchemy, and Structural Models for the Ten Book Series · May 14, 2026 · 1h 21m

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